Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

"This is a sunflower, which produces sunlight. We'll talk about the effects of sunlight later."

The Wall of Nuts will block the zombies from advancing for a period of time;

Cherry Bomb: Destroy all zombies within a 3x3 area.

The Ice Archer fires ice peas that have a slowing effect.

... "

"Uh-huh."

The audience listened intently.

But soon he realized something was wrong. Boss Lu had listed so many functions of plants, how could he possibly remember them all?

I had no choice but to take out my notebook and quickly jot it down.

Seeing everyone writing so quickly, Lu Chen nodded with satisfaction.

Take a sip of water, pause briefly, and wait for them to record.

After a short while, seeing that everyone had finished taking notes, Lu Chen continued:

"Tower defense games also require players to demonstrate their strategic thinking."

If it's just about simply placing plants, that's too simplistic;

We also need to add resource restrictions to increase the game's difficulty.

Look here, everyone.

Lu Chen pointed the whiteboard marker at the three rectangles in the upper left corner.

Everyone thought Boss Lu had drawn it wrong, but it turns out it's used for this.

"These three boxes represent the sunlight bar, the plant slot bar, and the shovel bar, respectively."

Players need to spend a certain amount of sunlight to plant each type of plant.

Sunlight is the "currency" in the game.

So how is sunlight produced?

Of course, it is also obtained by growing plants.

Sunflowers can produce sunlight intermittently.

Players need to manually click to collect sunlight, and the total amount of sunlight is displayed in the upper left corner;

At the same time, each type of plant requires a cooling period and cannot be planted continuously;

This is a shovel; it can be used to remove plants that players accidentally planted incorrectly.

Lu Chen introduced them one by one.

Everyone was already completely bewildered by what they were hearing.

They hadn't expected the game Lu Chen had brought out this time to be so complex.

Unlike the new games discussed in the previous two meetings, this is simple and straightforward; just get to work.

Of course, Plants vs. Zombies is a game that looks complicated, but is actually very easy to pick up and play.

They only find it complicated because they haven't played similar games before.

Lu Chen stopped and waited for a moment.

And everyone worked hard to understand, and finally understood what Lu Chen meant by "strategic".

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Wu Zhixuan's heartfelt exclamation.

"This is indeed strategic."

Tao Manwen didn't fully understand, but she felt that what Boss Lu said was all correct.

"Yes, players need to measure the amount of sunlight and also pay attention to the plant's cooldown time."

"Each player can create different gameplay combinations."

This way, each player will have a different strategy for passing the level.

The group began discussing what Lu Chen had just told them.

But even these words left the audience speechless and unable to process them for a while.

They noticed that Lu Chen hadn't looked at any materials while he was speaking.

This proves that Lu Chen hadn't already thought through all the details of Plants vs. Zombies.

Or Lu Chen would come up with one novel idea after another in just a few minutes.

Of these two ideas, people are more inclined to believe the former.

Otherwise, Boss Lu's actions wouldn't be as simple as just being deified.

It's absolutely terrifying.

We have already discussed the functions of several plants.

Correspondingly, the attributes of zombies should also be enhanced to achieve a balance.

I've also thought of a few others.

For example, the roadblock zombie increases its defensive capabilities through the traffic cones on its head;

As he spoke, Lu Chen casually drew a stick figure.

They also added a triangle on top of the stick figure's head to represent an ice cream cone.

"Iron Bucket Zombie, with an iron bucket on its head, has higher defense."

The pole vaulting zombie runs fast in the early stages, but after vaulting over a plant, it returns to normal walking speed.

The newspaper-reading zombie increases its walking speed after the plants knock the newspaper away;

The clown zombie carries a box that could explode at any moment, destroying any plants that are in its path.

Giant Zombie, an elite zombie in the game, has high health and will use its telephone pole to smash plants. After losing a certain amount of health, it will throw out imp zombies.

... "

Lu Chen explained several kinds of plants and zombies in one breath.

However, there are just too many types of plants and zombies in Plants vs. Zombies.

Each of these plants could be described in great detail, and a whole host of other things could be said about them.

Lu Chen couldn't possibly explain everything at once.

We can only wait for it to be perfected little by little during the game's development process.

"This is the basic gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies, do you all understand?"

Lu Chen tapped the whiteboard and looked at everyone.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Lu Chen put down the whiteboard marker.

However, upon closer examination of what Lu Chen said at the meeting...

Everyone was immediately startled.

Lu Chen can be said to have used the simplest words to outline a game genre that will last a long time.

In the foreseeable future.

As long as Plants vs. Zombies is released and achieves a certain level of sales.

There will inevitably be a large number of imitators who base their games on the core gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies.

They have created countless games of the same type.

So, did everyone here inadvertently witness history?

Someone thought to themselves.

And their gazes toward Lu Chen became even more adoring.

Perhaps only a boss like this can lead the company forward.

Today's meeting turned into a one-man show for Lu Chen.

Therefore, Lu Chen decided to give his employees some autonomy.

This allows them to participate in the meeting as well.

Now that I've determined the basic gameplay,

The presentation style of the game is also very important;

Tao Manwen and Chu Yu, one of you is in charge of art, and the other is in charge of music.

What are your thoughts on the game's art style?

"what?"

The two were startled by Lu Chen's sudden call to name.

However, since I've already been called out, I can only say what I think.

After a moment of contemplation, Tao Manwen spoke first:

Since we're called "Plants vs. Zombies"...

The game's name itself evokes a sense of absurdity and abstraction.

And speaking of zombies...

The first impression it gives is one of horror and terror;

Following this line of thought,

I think our art style could be designed as a realistic horror style.

Speaking of horror, Chu Yu, the crazy girl sitting next to me, had her eyes light up.

That's right!

Let's make a horror game!

"hiss……"

Hearing their words, Lu Chen felt a sharp pain in his tooth.

This is digging a hole for yourself.

The two's ideas were far different from Lu Chen's.

Lu Chen originally thought that girls liked cute cartoon styles.

It also happens to fit the style of Plants vs. Zombies, which I am familiar with.

So I just went along with it.

As a result, you two created a realistic horror story. How are you going to sell the game?

Think about it.

Even in the original Plants vs. Zombies, many people were startled by the zombie hands that burst out of the ground at the beginning.

If the entire game were in a realistic style.

I wonder how many people will be persuaded to quit.

Also, Chu Yu, don't you usually like to tend to flowers and plants?

Why do you still prefer scary things?

Lu Chen coughed awkwardly and said:

"Cough cough,

Tao Manwen and Chu Yu, your ideas are excellent.

However, our game is, after all, a casual game, aimed at players of all ages.

If the style is too horrific or terrifying,

That would mean a much smaller player base.

Therefore, I suggest that the game's style should be more mainstream, leaning towards cartoonish and exaggerated elements.